New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Division of Aeronautics Visits the Technical Center
By Ginger Cairnes
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has the responsibility to promote aviation safety statewide and help “foster the development of an efficient transportation system” to meet the needs of its users. Within the NJDOT, the Division of Aeronautics oversees 48 public-use airports and 362 heliports.
The State Legislature had originally created the State Department of Aviation, the State Aviation Commission and the Office of the State Director of Aviation in 1931 due to the increasing popularity of the airplane in New Jersey . The Division of Aeronautics joined NJDOT in 1966 when the Highway Department officially became the Department of Transportation. The Bureau of Licensing and Aircraft Operations within the division employs 4 Aeronautical Operations Specialists and 1 Chief. Although these employees wear many hats their primary tasks are conducting safety inspections of airports and heliports, and accident investigation.
Because of their area of responsibility, they paid a visit to the Technical Center in order to increase their personal knowledge, and to see first hand what developments in safety they can look forward to seeing in the future. Their focus was on Airport and Aircraft Safety R & D Programs.
Attending from the Division of Aeronautics were: John Kaiser, Engineer, Division of Aeronautics; Robert Draper, Aeronautical Operations Specialist; Gerard Leipfinger, Aeronautical Operations Specialist; Ronald Harbist, Aeronautical Operations Specialist; and Bart Ritorto, Aeronautical Operations Specialist – all of whom except Mr. Kaiser are pilots. Also in Attendance from the Department of Homeland Security, was Lou Illiano, Aviation Security Safety Inspector, Newark, NJ.
Among the labs that “wowed” the visitors was the Airport Facilities Terminal Integration Laboratory (AFTIL). This facility provides vital information on both tower siting in its structures lab, as well as a 360-degree tower view that displays a realistic Air Traffic Control Tower environment in order to study safety procedures such as visibility for the controller and possible runway incursions. John Wilks, John Pallante, and Rodger Bawgus brought the group into several towers to illustrate the capabilities and realism of the program.
In spite of heavy winds that day out on the aircraft ramp, Bill Cavage’s presentation on the Boeing 747SP Ground Test Article proved to be time well spent. This aircraft was decommissioned from service and acquired from Boeing by the FAA for use to develop and test Ground Based Inerting (GBI) systems as well as to investigate fuel vapor flammability in heated center wing tanks. It will also be used in other safety efforts.
As part of an agency goal to reduce the number of fatal aircraft accidents by 80% in 2007, the FAA developed the FAA’s Aging Transport Non-structural Systems Plan, which calls for research into the effects of aging on electrical and mechanical systems. Among the areas being researched under this program is safe operation of aircraft electric systems. Mike Walz and Caesar Gomez demonstrated some of the research being done with circuit breakers, arcing on a “line” and other types of electrical faults.
The Technical Center can proudly boast about its Full-Scale Fire Test Facility. It is the largest U.S. Government operated facility of its kind, where both post-crash and in-flight fires are being studied. Dave Blake, who is called in by the NTSB to assist on many of its investigations discussed work currently being done in this building such as fuel inerting, burn-through resistance, and studies in preparation for the new large bodied A380 aircraft. He also discussed the Fire Safety Branch’s role in investigations.
To further explain burn-through resistance and the Fire Resistant Materials Program, Nelson Miller took the group into one of the labs currently doing tests on the development of new fire safe materials for use on commercial aircraft. One of the goals of the Fire Resistant Materials Program is to eliminate use of hazardous materials and improve current materials in the next 10 to15 years that can cause death in aircraft accidents.
Satish Agrawal welcomed the group and gave a brief overview of the many programs under his Airport Technology R & D Branch. The recent arrival of the Airbus A380 and the FAA Airport Technology R & D Branch’s Operation of New Large Aircraft (NLA) Program is of great relevance and presents challenges to rescue personnel – not only because of the size of the aircraft, the number of passengers (873 passengers and crew) it will be carrying, the high upper passenger deck, but also because of the composite materials from which it is constructed.
In conjunction with the Operation of NLA Research Program, Keith Bagot (image at the top of the page) of the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) Research Program demonstrated the FAA’s High Performance Research Vehicle (HPRV) with its 50 ft. high reach extendible turret (HRET) and skin-penetrating nozzle, along with several other new technologies that are on airport firefighting vehicles. Several members of the group got a chance to climb in the driver’s seat of the HPRV to experience some of the vehicle’s controls and features.
Nick Subbotin gave a presentation on the many new challenges that the FAA is currently researching with the operation of NLA. The FAA will conduct testing on many of these firefighting challenges at the NLA Fire Test Site at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, FL where the FAA has constructed a 60 ft. section steel mock-up of a second level aircraft including the leading edge of a wing and first inboard engine nacelle. The mock-up is located inside a 100 ft. diameter fire pit where live fire testing and other NLA related research tasks can be completed. Other tasks include the evaluation of a 65 ft. HRET for reaching second level aircraft, developing new firefighting strategies unique to second level aircraft, and evaluating access so that airport firefighters can assist during passenger evacuations, extinguish interior fire, and rescue passengers.
Research in Air Traffic Management and in most of the Airport and Aircraft Technology Branches is interrelated as we work toward not only the NLA, but also toward the future safety of both airports and aircraft – which was in keeping with the purpose of this visit by the NJ Division of Aeronautics, and the Homeland Security Inspector.
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